Travel bubble or travel corridor, they both mean the same thing – safe travel between specific locations without the need for quarantine. But with new COVID-19 spikes, things are changing rapidly.
At Travel Wanderlust, we try to put things into context and give our community a glimmer of hope about where they can travel next. Some context first; the travel bubble or travel corridor options we list here ay change over time due to lifting of restrictions or in some cases, a tightening of them due to surges of the virus. This was the unfortunate case of travel between Denmark and the UK for instance.
Each country has different regulations and may change them in time, so we encourage our readers to contact the relevant authorities before making any bookings. There are also other requirements like negative test results and shorter quarantines for some travellers.
READ MORE: Are you prepared for the new travel norm post-COVID?
We have also tried our best to include ones that are open to a wider audience that just official government travel or restricted business travel, as that defeats the purpose of Travel Wanderlust in empowering our entire travel community. Right now, only one travel bubble is completely open, but we have provided as much context as we can.
Let’s jump straight into it.
Travel bubble confirmed: Singapore and Hong Kong
Recently announced and great news for travellers – at least in Singapore and Hong Kong – there will be quarantine-free leisure travel between the two countries again from November 22.
There are regulations though, as passengers will be required to undergo a Covid-19 test and provide a negative result within 72 hours before departure. While there will be no restrictions on the purpose of travel and no need for a disclosed itinerary or sponsorship, travellers must have no travel history to any place outside of Hong Kong or Singapore within 14 days prior to departure.
Travel bubble confirmed: UK opens its doors to numerous countries
The UK has announced an official travel corridor list of countries with a very low rate of cases and low risk of infection. This means that UK citizens returning from one of these countries, or visitors entering the UK from one of these countries, are not subject to the mandatory two-week quarantine.
However, we have seen a lot of changes in the list over the last month, so we suggest caution when booking your flight.
These countries are (as of 13 November 2020):
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba
- British Antarctic Territory
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Canary Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Channel Islands
- Chile
- Dominica
- Estonia
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Finland
- Gibraltar
- Greece (only the islands of Corfu, Crete, Kos, Rhodes and Zakynthos)
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Hong Kong
- Iceland
- Ireland
- the Isle of Man
- Japan
- Latvia
- Laos
- Macao (Macau)
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mauritius
- Montserrat
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
- Qatar
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- South Korea
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- St Barthélemy
- St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Pierre and Miquelon
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- UAE
- Vietnam
Potential travel bubble opportunities
Japan opening their borders
Japan has had a decent time controlling the spread of the pandemic (though as we write this there has been a spike in cases) and this has allowed limited travel.
As early as September, Japan allowed limited travel to Asian countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Taiwan, for those citizens who are long-term residents of Japan.
Both Singapore and South Korea have been allowed selective travel to the country focused on short-term business travellers. This was further extended to include business travellers from Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Macau and New Zealand as well.
There is a risk to travelling there, as all travellers to Japan still need to submit a negative Covid-19 test certificate upon arrival. This may then extend to a further test at the arrival airport and even a two-week quarantine period. Caution and thorough research is recommended before booking your business trip there.
Singapore’s open for business
Singapore is always open for business and building a business-focused travel bubble was crucial for the small city-state. This has led to Singapore opening up reciprocal green lanes with several countries including Germany, Brunei, China, Japan (as mentioned above), Malaysia and Indonesia.
Australia eyes to reopen travel to Asia
Australia is open to resuming normal travel between certain countries in Asia, despite setbacks when they opened up travel to and from New Zealand.
Currently, the country is considering and assessing the feasibility of travel bubbles with Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Pacific island nations. With the lowering case numbers in Australia, it is likely that this might become a reality very soon.
We will continue to monitor the changing travel landscape for our community and encourage people to share news and updates from their countries. This will help us build a comprehensive list (after verification), so we can spur travel once again and get our community up and running again.
